Strongest Leaguestarter Builds for Path of Exile Patch 0.5.0

It’s been a few days since the release of the Return of the Ancients update for Path of Exile 2. And with that comes a bunch of sweeping changes across the board. From revamps to the game’s current endgame system to the introduction of two new Ascendancies, the Spirit Walker and Martial Artist.

Not only that, but patch 0.5 also came with the new Runes of Aldur league. So, if you want to play the new league and patch this time, you need a build that will carry you all the way to the endgame.

That’s where this guide comes in. Without further ado, here are the strongest leaguestarter builds that most of the Path of Exile 2 community is currently running.

Strongest Leaguestarter Builds for Patch 0.5 in Path of Exile 2

Before anything else, let’s first look at why these builds are considered the strongest leaguestarters.

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First off, they can help you go through the game’s campaign with relative ease. As long as you know how these builds work, you’ll be able to breeze through all of the acts without dying too many times.

Second, they scale well into Tier 15 maps and can even take on Pinnacle boss encounters. With the right investment, you might even be able to reach several million DPS as you upgrade your gear.

Note that this is in the context of the current meta. After all, players are still experimenting with the new stuff introduced in the current league. Expect to see changes a few weeks later as new, powerful builds are discovered.

With that out of the way, these builds are as follows:

Twister Spirit Walker

Twister is no doubt a very powerful skill. The skill creates several projectiles that deal massive damage against packs of enemies and even bosses. With the right setup, you’d be able to release lots of projectiles to achieve screen-wide clears while mapping.

The only minor downside is that you have to use Whirling Slash every time to create a Whirlwind. It is is then consumed by the Twister to create projectiles.

But with the right gear and support gems, that shouldn’t really be an issue, especially since Whirling Slash also doubles as a movement skill. This means once you have enough attack speed, you’ll be able to breeze through maps.

What makes this build even stronger is the new Huntress Ascendancy, the Spirit Walker. The new ascendancy has a notable called Primal Bounty that empowers projectile skills to add more projectiles and increase their speed.

Twister counts as a projectile skill, so expect to see tons of Twisters flying around your screen whenever you cast the skill. This is paired with Ice-Tipped Arrows to convert damage to Cold and the chance to freeze enemies, and Barrage to create even more Twisters.

What makes Twister insanely strong is that they zoom back and forth. Doing so allows the projectiles to hit enemies multiple times before disappearing.

And what’s even better is that you can get the skill as soon as you enter the Clearfell Encampment. It will then carry you all the way to the endgame.

I even tried it on my Monk and it made leveling a breeze!

Ice Shot/Snipe Deadeye

Snipe has received a huge buff to its overall damage, especially the Icy Blast part. Now, it has a 3067% damage multiplier at gem level 20.

Pair it with Ice Shot on a Deadeye, and you should be able to take down bosses with ease.

While the explosion part was nerfed, it was a minor one which doesn’t stop this build from being a really strong leaguestarter.

Ice Shot is mainly used for clearing and freezing enemies, while Snipe is for single-target. However, you’re going to pair Snipe with Barrage to create more projectiles which will allow you to shotgun bosses for even crazier damage.

What makes this build really strong for leaguestart is that you can easily deal with enemies by freezing them before they even get the chance to hit. This is especially helpful since Energy Shield has been nerfed in this update.

With good gear, you can even one-shot bosses in the endgame. Of course, that will require some investment. However, the fact that you can take this from Act 1 all the way to maps is really, really cool.

Oil Barrage Wyvern

If you’re a fan of wyverns and one to play as one, this build is for you.

Despite receiving a handful of nerfs, the Oil Barrage Wyvern still remains one of the strongest leaguestarter builds, thanks to the Oil Barrage skill.

This game is considered one of the craziest boss-killing skills in the game. This is due to its ability to consume Power Charges in order to deal massive amounts of damage. What makes it even better is the fact that it’s not locked behind a specific Ascendancy.

This means you can play any Ascendancy that you want and still be able to benefit from this build’s massive damage output.

The only real downside to this build is that getting Power Charges can be a bit clunky, as you have to generate them via Lingering Illusion. Also, once you have a Power Charge, you need to use Rend which is a melee skill.

As such, you first have to engage in melee combat for a short while to get the 50% of damage gained as Lightning buff. It takes a while to get used to, but the payoff is huge.

Falling Thunder Martial Artist

The last one we have is the Falling Thunder build from one of the two new ascendancies, the Martial Artist.

The Martial Artist has several potential builds that can be quite powerful. Take the Whirling Assault Hollow Form, for example, though I don’t think that it has reached its full potential yet as players as still experimenting.

However, the Falling Thunder build is one that can take you reliably from the campaign all the way to the endgame.

The reason why this build is a strong pick in this league is thanks to the new notable in the Martial Artist ascendancy. This is the Way of the Stone Fist, which transforms the modifier in your gloves into new, powerful ones.

The mod we’re looking for is one that grants you Power Charges on crit. This allows you to generate Power Charges quickly by using Whirling Assault. You then unleash all of them via Falling Thunder to massive damage and clear speed.

This build also benefits from the Martial Adept and Martial Master notables, which allow you to create a combo from all attacks. Pair this with skills like the Mantra of Destruction with Ailith’s Chimes support to generate even more Power charges.

Final Thoughts

That wraps up our list of the strongest leaguestarter builds in Patch 0.5 of Path of Exile 2. As you can see, all of these builds have the same benefit of taking you from Act 1 into the endgame.

Once you have enough Divine Orbs, you can then start investing in your gear to make mapping and Pinnacle boss encounters easier.